Because I love America.

Today, just a few days before we celebrate our nation’s independence, I felt compelled to write an open letter to our country, because I love America.

You see because I love America when I look around what I see pains me. I see my fellow countrymen at each other’s throats.
I see many rightfully upset with our past transgressions but with no pride in our heroics.
I see the home of the brave giving way to fear-mongering and sheltering in place.
I see calls for police reform transitioning to demands for dismantling.
I see righteous demand for acknowledgment of Juneteenth morph into a shocking attack on the Fourth of July.
I see the long-overdue demands of equal pay for equal work, becoming a movement to remove masculinity from men.

You see, because I love America, I hold her to a high, nigh impossible standard.
Those ideals are a heavy load, under which she has stumbled and fallen short more than a time or two. Like the young children we raise, I refuse to ignore how far she has come despite her mistakes.

In just 243 years, we have gone from a nation founded by slave owners to a country that has been lead by an African American.
While we have so much farther to go, only a fool would ignore, and fail to take pride in, just how far we have come.

Because I love America, I will stand by your side and do my part to hold her to the ideals on which she was founded.
Because I love America, I will take to task anyone who seeks to deny any man, woman, or child their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Because I love America, I will fight for you, both here and abroad, and because I love her so, I will take pride in all the good she has brought to this world.

So, you see, because I love America I will celebrate the Fourth of July, and I encourage you to join me.